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Item, that she did hold, in the receyuing of the sacrament of the aultar, she did not receyue the same body that was borne of the virgin Mary, and suffred vpon the crosse for our redemption. &c.

Item, she did hold, that Christ at his last supper did not blesse the bread that he had then in his handes, but was blessed himselfe, and by the vertue of the words of consecration, the substance of the bread and wyne is not conuerted and turned into the substance of the body and bloud of Christ.

Item, she did graunt that she was of the parish of Alhallowes in Darby. &c.

Item, that all and singular the premisses are true and notorious by publike report and fame. &c.

MarginaliaThe aunswere of Ioane Waste to þe Articles.Wherunto she aunswered, that she beleued therin so much as the holy Scriptures taught her, and according to that she had heard preached vnto her by diuers learned men: Wherof some suffered imprisonment, and other some suffered death for the same doctrine. Amongest whom, she named, besides other, Doctor Taylor, whom she said tooke it of his conscience that that doctrine which he taught was true, and asked of them, if they would doo so in like case for their doctrine, which if they would not, she desired them for Gods sake not to trouble her being a blinde, poore, and vnlerned woman, with any further talke, saying (by Gods assistance) that she was readie to yeld vp her life in that faith, in such sort as they should appoint.

And yet notwithstanding being prest by the said Bishop and Doctor Draycot,
MarginaliaWell argued: Because Christ is omnipotent. Ergo, there is no bread in the Sacrament.with many argumentes of Christes omnipotēcie, as, why was not Christ able as well to make the bread his body, as to turne water into wine, raise Lazarus from death, and such other like argumentes: and many times being threatned with greuous imprisonmentes, tormentes, and death. The poore woman thus being, as it were, halfe astoyned through theyr terrors and threates, and desirous (as it semed) to prolong her life,
MarginaliaThe offer of Ioane Waste to the Bishop, if he would take vpon hys conscience to aunswere before God for hys doctrine.offred vnto the Bishop then present, that if he would before that company, take it vpon his conscience, that that doctrine which he would haue her to beleue cōcerning the sacrament, was true, and that he would at the dreadfull day of iudgement answere for her therin (as the sayd Doctor Tayler, in diuers of his sermons did offer) she would then further aunswere them.

MarginaliaNote here the difference betwene the conscience of the Protestant, and of the Papist.Wherunto the Bishop aunswered, he would: but Doct. Draycot his Chauncelor, hearing that, said: My Lord, you know not what you doe: you may in no case answere for an heretike. And immediatly he asked the poore woman whether she would recant or no, and said she should aunswere for her selfe. Vnto whose sayinges the Bishops also reformed himselfe.

MarginaliaThe Byshop and his Chaūcellor durst not take vpō their conscience, to aunswere before God for their doctrine.The poore womā perceauing this, answered again, þt if they refused to take of their cōscience þt it was true they would haue her to beleue, she would answere no further, but desired them to doe their pleasure, and so after certein circumstances,
MarginaliaSentence pronounced agaynst Ioane Waste.they pronounced sentence agaynst her,

The original sentence, dated 19 June 1556, is in Foxe's papers: BL, Harley 421, fo. 76r.

and deliuered her vnto the Baliffes of the sayd towne of Darby afore named. Who after they had kept her about a moneth or fiue wekes,
MarginaliaThe writte brought down for the burning of Ioane Waste.at length there came vnto them a writ De heretico comburendo:

Given that the sentence against Joan was pronounced on 19 June and that she was burned on 1 August, the time elapsed was closer to six weeks. Legally, no one convicted of heresy could be executed without a writ authorising the execution.

by vertue wherof, they were appoynted by the said Bishop to bring her to the parish church of all Saintes at a day appoynted where Doct. Draycot should make a Sermon.[Back to Top]

MarginaliaD. Draycot appoynted to preach at the burning of Ioane Waste.When the day and time was come that this innocent Martyr should suffer, first commeth to the church D. Draycot accompanied with diuers gentlemen, as M. Thomas Powthred, M. Henry Vernon, M. Dethicke of Newall, and diuers others. This done, and all thinges now in a readines, at last the poore blinde creature and seruaunt of God was brought and set before the Pulpit,
MarginaliaD. Draycots rayling Sermon agaynst Ioane Waste.where the said Doctor being entred into his sermon, and there inueying agaynst diuers matters, which he called heresies, declared vnto the people that that woman was condemned for deny-

ing the blessed sacrament of the altar to be the verie bodie and bloud of Christ really and substancially, and was therby cut of from the bodie of the catholicke church: and said, that she was not only blind of her bodily eies, but also blind in the eyes of her soule.
MarginaliaBlessed are you when men shall reuile you and say euill against you for my names sake. Mat. 5. And he sayd, þt as her body should be presently consumed with materall fire: so her soule should be burned in hel with euerlasting fire, as soone as it should be separated from the bodie, and there to remayne world without end, and sayd it was not lawfull for the people to pray for her: & so with many terrible threates he made an end of his Sermon, and commaunded the Bayliffes and those gentlemen to see her executed. And þe sermon thus ended, eftsoones the blessed seruaunt of God was caried away from the sayd church,
MarginaliaIoane Waste brought to the place of execution.to a place called þe windmil pit, neare vnto the said towne, and holding the said Roger Wast her brother by the hand, she prepared her selfe, and desired the people to pray with her, and sayd such prayers as she before had learned, and cried vpon Christ to haue mercy vpon her as long as life serued.
MarginaliaThe Martyrdome of Ioane Waste. In this meane season, þe said D. Draycot went to his Inne, for great sorrow of her death, & there layed him downe, and slept during all the time of her execution. And thus much of Ioane Waste.

These 'carpers' are catholic critics such as Nicholas Harpsfield and Thomas Harding who subjected sections of Foxe's account to intense criticism.

ready to seeke all holes & corners, how to diffame þe memory of Gods good Saintes, and to condemne these histories, of lyes and vntruths: especially histories wherin they see their shamefull Actes and vnchristian cruelty detected and brought to light: therfore for better cōfirmation of this historie aboue written, and to stoppe the mouthes of such Momes, this shalbe to admonish all and singular readers hereof, that the discourse of this poore blind womans life and death, in such sort as is aboue prefixed, hath bene confessed to be very true, by diuers persons of worthy credit and yet liuing: and also hath bene specially perused and examined by W. Baynbridge, tofore mentioned, Bayliffe then of Darby: who aswell of his owne knowledge, as by speciall enquirie and conferēce, by him made, with diuers others, hath certified vs the same to be vndoubted: besides the testimoniall of Iohn Cadman Curate of the sayd towne,

One suspects that there may have been elements of both self-exculpation and a desire to blame local catholics in the readiness of these officials to send Foxe more information on John Waste.

and of other also, vpon whose honestie well knowen, and their reporte herein nothing differing from such, as were best acquainted with that matter, I haue bene here the more bold to commit this story to posteritie, for all good men to consider and to iudge vpon.[Back to Top]

This account first appeared in the 1563 edition and was unchanged in subsequent editions. There is some, not entirely reliable, corroboration of Foxe's brief account of Sharpe (see K. G. Powell, The Marian Martyrs and the Reformation in Bristol [Bristol: 1972], p. 12).

MarginaliaSeptēb. 8.
MarginaliaThe Martyrdome of Edward Sharpe of Bristow.ABout the beginning of the nexte moneth following, which was September, a certayne godly, aged, deuout, and zelous person of the Lordes glory, borne in Wiltshire named Edward Sharpe, of the age of. lx. yeares, or thereaboute, was condemned at Bristow to the like Martyrdome, where he constantly and manfully persisting in the iust quarell of Christes Gospell, for misliking and renouncing the ordinaunces of the Romish church, was tried as pure golde, and made a liuely sacrifice in the fyre: in whose death, as in þe death of all his other Sainctes, the Lord be glorified and thanked for his great grace of constancy: to whom bee prayse for euer, Amen.

The account of these four martyrs and of the Bristol carpenter appeared in the 1563 edition and remained unchanged in subsequent editions. The fact that the Bristol carpenter and two of the Sussex martyrs were unnamed indicates Foxe's difficulties in obtaining information on martyrs in the dioceses of Chichester and Bristol.

MarginaliaSeptēb. 24.
MarginaliaThe Martyrdome of 4. at Mayfield in Sussex.NExt after the martyrdome of Edward Sharpe aboue sayd, followed iiij. which suffered at Mayfield in Sussex, the. xxiiij. day of September. an. 1556. Of whose names. ij. we finde recorded, and the other. ij. we yet know not, and therfore according to our register, here vnder they be specifyed, as we finde them.

Click on this link to switch between the Modern pagination for this edition and Foxe's original pagination when searching for a page number. Note that the pagination displayed in the transcription is the modern pagination with Foxe's original pagination in square brackets.

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Type a keyword and then restrict it to a particular edition using the dropdown menu. You can search for single words or phrases. When searching for single words, the search engine automatically imposes a wildcard at the end of the keyword in order to retrieve both whole and part words. For example, a search for "queen" will retrieve "queen", "queene" and "queenes" etc.